James Pyles's Blog, page 19

The Last Interview of Mister Bill

Mister Bill’s plush body sat in a trendy Hollywood restaurant. The interview about his career was finished, but awakened dormant memories of his 1970s glory days at SNL. Sure, the stunts were dangerous, but money and fame didn’t come cheap. It nearly ended in 1980, but Chevy rescued him from a garbage can. After that […]

Film Review of “Oppenheimer” (2023)

Over the weekend, at my local public library, I found a DVD of the 2023 movie Oppenheimer, so naturally, I scooped it up. Spoiler Alert!!! If you haven’t seen the movie yet and want to be surprised, stop reading now. The film is three hours long (Oy!) and somewhere in the first quarter, I thought […]

The Tree Where The Elves Live

“It’s just a fake door, Jillian. Elves don’t really live in the tree.” Ten-year-old Sam strode towards the trunk. “Don’t,” the eight-year-old girl cried. “If they get mad, they’ll cast a spell on us.” She ran to her brother and grabbed his arm. He shook her off. “Watch this.” Sam gripped the knob and pulled […]

My short story “Blood Trail” Accepted for Publication in “Zehlreg Augustus Grindstone’s Spectacular Western Oddity Emporium”

I don’t have a lot of details yet, but my “E.E. Durban, Occult Consulting Detective” short story “Blood Trail” has been accepted for publication by End of the World Publishing. The theme is called Zehlreg Augustus Grindstone’s Spectacular Western Oddity Emporium and is “where the Wild West meets the vast worlds of Fantasy!” More specifically: […]

A Brief Errand in Time

Miles Jackson strolled past the bistro to The Cotton Exchange. His contact said he had to depart from someplace that existed both now and at the target date. He wouldn’t have much time once he arrived, which was ironic. But in 2024, he couldn’t walk down the streets of Wilmington dressed like a Civil War […]

Book Review of Orson Scott Card’s “Wakers” (2022)

I finished Orson Scott Card’s novel Wakers last night. Naturally it’s the first book in a trilogy because all books have to be trilogies if not expanded series these days. Like most people, I was introduced to Card’s writing long ago through Ender’s Game and the subsequent novels in that series. I’m glad to see […]

UPDATE: How to Read (like and comment on) the Serial “Our Legacy, The Stars: A Tom Corbett Adventure”

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi. I know I just announced my space opera serial Our Legacy, The Stars: A Tom Corbett Adventure last week, but I wanted to give everyone an update. To test the Kindle Vella platform for the story, I clicked the Follow button. […]

Solved: The Locked Room Murder Mystery

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi. Stephanie’s grandfather had been murdered in his study. The police said the room had been locked from the inside. No one could have gotten in or out. He was strangled by hand so it wasn’t a suicide. The police determined the […]

Read My Serial “Our Legacy, The Stars – A Tom Corbett Adventure” Now!

I am totally thrilled to announce that my 16-part serial “Our Destiny, The Stars” featuring Tom Corbett, Space Cadet is now available through Kindle Vella. If you’re old enough, you may remember the Tom Corbett television show which ran from 1950-1955, pretty much pre-dating even me. When the fine folks at Starry Eyed Press asked […]

“Quantum Leap” Not Renewed For Season 3

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi. After watching all of season one and several episodes of season two, last November I parted ways with the modern “continuation” of Quantum Leap. It wasn’t a bad show. In fact, some of the episodes were rather compelling and they had […]